ATPnovel 32. Undercurrents are brewing
32. Undercurrents are brewing
Xu Yan piloted his glider, rushing out of Lijian Gorge towards the rising sun. The morning breeze caressed his face, bringing him indescribable ease and joy. All the repression and melancholy that had accumulated over the past month vanished in that instant.
No wonder humans have always been fascinated by flight; this is what real flight feels like!
After flying in the air for quite a while, the great writer Xu turned back, still feeling unsatisfied.
A few days ago, he would have been eager to escape from here immediately, but now that he has found a way to leave at any time, he is no longer in a hurry to go.
As I said before, he knows too little about the cultivation world and has a lot to learn.
Before they even landed, they saw He Tiannan wave his sleeve, and the dilapidated thatched hut collapsed with a crash.
With another wave of his sleeve, a gust of wind blew all the scattered pieces of wood off the stone platform and into the bottom of the cliff.
Xu Yan was deeply moved, realizing that he was still far from being a true cultivator. Now that he had the opportunity to learn systematically, it was always good to learn as much as possible.
It's always good to have more skills!
Lowering the angle, the glider landed lightly on the stone platform, barely qualifying as a vertical landing.
He Tiannan didn't say anything, but took out various materials from his sleeve and rebuilt a thatched hut.
In the following days, Xu Yan began an intensive study mode, learning weapon crafting and various cultivation common sense during the day, and circulating his cultivation techniques at night to accumulate true essence.
He Tiannan stopped using the traditional methods to restrain Xu Yan and instead let him do as he pleased, only correcting Xu Yan's mistakes when necessary.
Xu Yan's occasional strange ideas gave Grandmaster He a headache; He Tiannan's intense interest in Xu Yan's true essence also left Xu Yan speechless.
The two gradually developed a special understanding, and their days were both ordinary and fulfilling.
Several days later, a sword light came from afar, bringing a letter.
After reading it, He Tiannan's gaze towards Xu Yan suddenly changed.
Master Xu was completely baffled for a moment: "What's going on?"
He Tiannan casually destroyed the letter and laughed, "It's nothing, just news from an old friend."
That's what he said, but He Tiannan's gaze held something ambiguous. During their casual conversation, he deliberately brought up the cultivation techniques of various sects and also casually mentioned the cultivation methods of the demon race.
In short, humans are born with limited time, and the most important thing in cultivation is to break through. Only by breaking through realms and increasing lifespan can one have enough time to cultivate. On the other hand, the demon race cultivates entirely based on instinct, and they can do whatever they want with their beards and eyebrows.
The words weren't very clear, and Xu Yan didn't take them to heart.
Two days later, Xu Yan broke through again. He Tiannan protected him throughout the process and observed carefully, but in the end he could only offer a few words of congratulations and said nothing else.
Having spent so much time together, how could Xu Yan not see the problem? But when she brought it up, He Tiannan simply said it was nothing.
His thoughts were written all over his face. Was this all the cunning a Golden Core cultivator had?
Xu Yan guessed that He Tiannan probably knew something, but just hadn't revealed it yet.
He suddenly had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to stay in Lijian Gorge for very long!
Just half a day later, He Tiannan suddenly appeared and, without saying a word, used his "Hidden Universe in Sleeves" technique to put him into his sleeve.
Before Xu Yan could figure out what was happening, he heard an unfamiliar voice: "Fellow Daoist He, how have you been?"
"Who do we have here? It's Fellow Daoist Ruan. What brings you here?" This time it was He Tiannan's voice.
Xu Yan immediately judged: They addressed each other as fellow Daoists, but knew each other but were not familiar with each other!
"Why feign ignorance, fellow Daoist?" The voice of the man surnamed Ruan was unreadable. "That Xu Yan, wasn't it you who took him away?"
Xu Yan was taken aback, then her heart tightened.
He Tiannan's voice was calm: "So what if it is, and so what if it isn't?"
The cultivator surnamed Ruan said, "If you hand over that brat, I'm willing to exchange him for a spirit cube!"
Wow, a magic formula?
Xu Yan had no idea he was so valuable; he wished he could crawl out of his sleeve and sell himself on the spot.
Pearls, formulas, bricks, and squares are the currency systems commonly used by cultivators.
The jade tablet found in the Qiankun bag was the Jade Manual, with a capacity of about a hundred beads, and it was the main material for refining jade talismans.
One hundred spirit manuals stacked together make one spirit brick.
One hundred spirit bricks stacked together make one spirit square, which is a considerable fortune for low-level cultivators, and even Golden Core cultivators cannot completely ignore it.
He Tiannan's tone remained calm: "What if I refuse to hand it over?"
Instead of being angry, the cultivator surnamed Ruan laughed and said, "Why bother, fellow Daoist? News of that kid has already spread far and wide. Countless fellow Daoists are looking for him. You can protect him for a while, but you can't protect him forever. It's better to hand him over sooner rather than later, so as not to tear each other apart and ruin our friendship."
"You actually believe such outrageous rumors, fellow Daoist?" He Tiannan asked in astonishment. "Who is this Poisonous Hand Scholar? Can his words be trusted?"
"It's better to believe it exists than not!" The cultivator surnamed Ruan insisted on his opinion. "Besides, it's not just the Poisonous Hand Scholar; the True Mountain Sect is also looking for this kid."
"The True Yue Sect?" He Tiannan asked, puzzled. "What does this have to do with them?"
"There's a junior from the Zhenyue Sect surnamed Su who also escaped from the Poisonous Scholar. Both sects are looking for him. Do you think I should believe him or not?"
Xu Yan's mind went blank for a moment, and he understood everything.
So the root of the problem lies with the Poisonous Scholar. Does that mean everyone already knows he possesses a demon core?
"Ridiculous!" He Tiannan said disdainfully. "Fellow Daoist, please return. I apologize for not being able to see you off further."
"Hmph!" The cultivator surnamed Ruan finally got angry and turned to fly away without saying goodbye.
A moment later, Xu Yan was brought back to light. Facing the silent He Tiannan, he finally managed to say with difficulty, "Senior, you already knew?"
He Tiannan nodded: "Not bad!"
Xu Yan's throat was dry: "Then you, old man, still..."
"What? You want me to just hand you over?"
"No, no," Xu Yan quickly shook his head. "It was just a bit of a surprise, a surprise, hehe."
He Tiannan said with a playful tone, "You are my destiny, how can I just hand you over so easily? Don't worry."
"So, you already knew about me all along..." He covered his lower abdomen and rubbed it, his tone hesitant.
"What, a demon core?" He Tiannan chuckled, hands behind his back. "Humans have good and evil, demons have good and bad. It's just a demon core. The key isn't where your cultivation came from, but what you did with that cultivation!"
Xu Yan smiled wryly: "It's not a matter of whether I want to or not, it's that I'm being watched..."
Before the words were finished, a voice came from outside again: "Is Fellow Daoist He here? Please show yourself!"
He Tiannan flicked his sleeve, about to take Xu Yan inside.
Xu Yan quickly stopped her: "Wait, let's go out together!"
He Tiannan hesitated: "Are you sure?"
"Don't worry, I'm confident. If it really doesn't work, you can just put me back in!" As he spoke, Xu Yan reached out and touched his head twice. The arcs of electricity in his palm turned his already short hair into ashes, turning his perfectly good head into a braised egg in an instant.
His short hair is his most noticeable feature. It's not easy to fake it right now, so he'll shave his head for a while and deal with it for the time being!